Article may contain Amazon & affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
Pickled cucumbers are great to serve next to a steak, a stew or in burgers. Learn how to pickle cucumbers at home with this very easy, family recipe!
How To Pickle Cucumbers With Vinegar
My mom showed me how to pickle cucumbers at a very early age and I’ve been using this recipe for a lot of years, with great success. We enjoy serving homemade pickles with lots of our meals and even in salads. I even enjoy a slice or two of these delightful pickles as a snack, when I have a craving for something tart tasting. Cucumbers are low in calories but they’re a high source of vitamins and minerals. At about 10 calories per medium cucumber, these pickles are great to snack on!
Pickling cucumbers provides a convenient way to preserve cucumbers for several months. I absolutely love pickling cucumbers as well as other vegetables like Pickled Green Tomatoes or red bell peppers. I like canning my own stuff as I know all ingredients I use are healthy and good for my family, no preservatives or other chemicals involved.
Similar posts you will love:
If you love pickles I’ll show you how to pickle cucumbers in just a minute; you can easily make your own pickles with this easy and quick pickled cucumbers recipe! You will totally enjoy canning cucumbers, your pickles will taste amazing and the recipe only takes a few simple ingredients. It’s not time consuming either! And if you have friends that like homemade stuff, you could use a pretty jar when making the pickles and offer it as a gift.
There are probably many recipes out there teaching how to pickle cucumbers but I swear by my mom’s pickled cucumber recipe! It gives such tasty, crisp pickles that are not too spicy or salty. This recipe pickles the cucumbers in vinegar rather than brine (which is also a tasty alternative but too heavy on sodium). Pickling in vinegar is a less aggressive process.
Ready to learn how to make pickled cucumbers? Check out these super easy steps!
How to pickle cucumbers
For 3 jars you’ll need:
- Fresh pickling cucumbers (dill cucumbers, kirby cucumbers or Gherkin are all great choices)
- Sugar
- Table salt
- Black peppercorn
- Mustard seeds
- Vinegar (white wine vinegar; do not replace with apple cider vinegar as it will taste completely different – not bad but different)
- Garlic cloves
- Dry bay leaves
- And of course water to fill the jars (pint jars or mason jars)
Note: Sometimes we like adding some fresh dill too. If you don’t have fresh dill, use 1/4 teaspoon dill seed per jar. If you like to make this recipe spicy, add some red pepper flakes. And sometimes we love adding a bit of cauliflower and carrots to the jars when making these dill pickles.
How do you pickle cucumbers?
1. Wash the cucumbers very well and keep only the healthy ones.
2. Sterilize jars well (here’s an article on the topic)
3. Place cucumbers in jars (don’t overcrowd them).
4. Pour vinegar to the bottom of the jar (about 2 fingers).
5. Put one teaspoon of sugar and one of salt in each jar. If you want to make sweet pickles (or sweeter), add 2-3 tablespoons of sugar.
6. Add spices: 2 large bay leaves (or 3 small), about 30 peppercorns and 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, per jar (if you chose to use garlic, put 2-3 cloves per jar at this stage).
7. Fill with water almost up to the rim.
8. Tightly screw the lid on.
9. Place jars in a large pot and cover with water up to the lid.
10. Bring to boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes.
11. Leave to cool for 1 hour, without removing from the pot.
12. Transfer to a baking sheet, bottoms up, and place in a pre heated oven on low, for 15 minutes. They’ll change color which is exactly what you want.
These pickles are good to serve after about 1 month. I like to allow them more time in the jar for the best flavor and we usually end up serving them after 2 months.
Once opened, jars should be stored in the fridge.
More Pickling Recipes You Might Like:
Homemade pickled cucumbers recipe
Ingredients
- 4 lbs fresh pickling cucumbers
- 3 teaspoons sugar
- 3 teaspoons salt
- peppercorns
- yellow mustard seeds
- white vinegar
- garlic optional; I didn't use as my daughter doesn't like it
- 6 large dry bay leaves or 9 small
- 3 jars
- water
Instructions
- Wash the cucumbers very well and keep only the healthy ones. Sterilize jars well
- Place into jars (don't overcrowd them).
- Add vinegar to the bottom of the jar (about 2 fingers).
- Put one teaspoon of sugar and one of salt in each jar. Add 2 large bay leaves (or 3 small), about 30 peppercorns and 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, per jar (if you chose to use garlic, put 2-3 cloves per jar at this stage).
- Fill with water almost up to the rim.
- Tightly screw the lid on. Place jars in a large pot and cover with water up to the lid.
- Bring to boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes. They'll start changing color.
- Leave to cool for 1 hour, without removing from the pot. Transfer to a baking sheet, bottoms up, and place in a pre heated oven on low, for 15 minutes. Good to serve after about 1 month.
Video
Most Popular Articles:
- Spiced herb roasted sweet potato wedges
- French cream puffs
- Buttermilk fried chicken
- 6 Ingredients taco soup
I love pickles so much ❤️ But I have never tried cucumber pickle, looks very delicious 😍 I’ll have to try this recipe soon!
I have never pickled cucumbers before, but I have always wanted to. It looks so easy!
I love a good cucumber salad, but I haven’t tried this before. Thank you for the recipe.
My husband is going to love that I found this recipe. He loves pickles but wants to make his own spicy flavor ones because they are so hard to find near us.
This was a great post. I’ve never pickled cucumbers before. I would love to try it myself.
My mother-in-law used to pickle cucumbers and they were delicious. If we ever get a garden going, I’ll have to try it!
My spouse is obsessed with pickled cucumbers. Didn’t realized it was simple to make!
My husband is fond of pickles and he’s going to love your recipe. I’ll try to give it a shot!
We also love doing pickled cucumber here in Philippines. The only difference is.that we sliced them thinly cause cucumbers here are quite big for jars.
Pickled green beans are so good, so I bet these would be amazing too. I’ll try these!
We have some cucumbers still in our garden and I’ve been wanting to try pickling them. Thanks for the recipe!
How I wished that my garden would grow more cucumbers. I would love to make some pickles